Accompanying the profile of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in this week's issue of TIME is a photograph taken by Robert Mapplethorpe. It is a particularly apt pairing of artist and subject: Koop has been one of the most outspoken leaders in the fight against AIDS, and Mapplethorpe, an AIDS sufferer since 1984, by publicizing his illness helped raise awareness of the disease in New York City art circles and beyond.
Koop and Mapplethorpe were brought together by Linda Freeman, assistant to TIME art director Rudy Hoglund. First she secured Koop's willingness to be photographed by Mapplethorpe, whose erotic images often...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
